Template talk:Casting
Standardization Some suggestions/questions/ideas for the standardization of model pages. I think the header should represent every copy of the model, see suggestions below: name= Use the name of the page, since that should be the name of the model scale= This was in the template before and I have fixed it so it displays properly, should we use it? series= Debut series, some older pages have included "Ready for Action", I think we should go with just the name of the series, i.e. "Heritage Classics" or "City Services", etc. which seems to be how they have been updated lately. number= I propose using the common model number (found on the bottom of the car) i.e. MB567 rather than the model number for the year i.e. MB04 since Matchbox has been changing the latter every year for modern models. The two digit 1-100 number would still be available in the table below. Older models which used the same number their whole duration in the line would make sense using their line number here. years= I have been putting spaces between the years (2006 - Present) because I think it looks better but no spaces (2006-Present) would work too. Which should we use? designer= image= Something to represent the model well. I prefer open models to those in packaging. Some of the creative photographs by HaarFager (Chevy Blazer, Volkswagen T2 Bus are nice too. Versions The name in bold has come out in the following 1/64 (update if scale of model is known) scale versions: Once we come up with a standardization it should be included on the main page of the template for editors to reference 99escort 21:33, September 8, 2009 (UTC) :Thanks for taking the time to put these suggestions up. Most other people take my suggestions as if I was criticising their sainted mother and get p.o.ed at me. It's nice to find someone of intelligence on here. I think I tend to agree with a lot of your assesments, but I will go through them one by one and tell you my thoughts. It seems like the only way to actually get a consensus of how somebody feels about something. :The name - I agree it should be the name of the page, because whoever created the page should have done enough research to come up with the proper/first name the casting used. :The scale - I worry about having the scale listed in the header as it seems to mess up the formatting of the categories listed there and not allow them to line up above each other properly. And seeing as how it's mentioned in the section just below the header, that should be good enough like you stated. I've seen it there for so long, it kind of "disappeared" into the background for me. But Matchbox has always been good about putting the exact scale of each vehicle they release, and they've kept it up into the Mattel era also. Also, the scale may be listed in the header coding you found, but we don't really use that code anymore. There's a coding that creates an entire new page - header, description, table and categories at the bottom, evrything a page needs - and on there, the scale was dropped from the header. :Debut series - You're right, this should be the debut series. I'll admit that the other instances you saw where "Ready For Action" was used, was probably my doing. I'm fairly new to Matchbox and when I first started working here, I wasn't sure which name was the series. But, I have been trying to remove the "Ready For Action" tags when I come across them. :Number - Recently, I have began to notice that the model number on the bottom of first releases doesn't match up with the model numbers Matchbox uses in their yearly posters. So, this is something that probably should be changed to exactly like you suggest. Use the number on the bottom of the first release in the header and the number Matchbox assigns to the model for each year or description in the table. :Years - I think using 1987-Present helps keep from using up the limited amount of space we have to work with in the header. Plus, it does seem to make it slightly easier to read. That's my thoughts on it. Plus, it's the way it's done over on the Hot Wheels Wiki and the Maisto Diecast Wiki, and since I'm an Administrator on all three, I have been trying to standardize them all with each other. I may be the only activie Administrator on the Matchbox Cars Wiki, so I try to keep an eye open for it more than on the other two. (Where, in the case of the Hot Wheels Wiki, there are other active Administrators, and apparently, I'm the only person that even uses the Maisto Diecast Wiki, so it's not very busy over there.) :Designer - seems to work really well over on the Hot Wheels Wiki, so it's been kept here and on the Maisto Diecast Wiki. More attempts at standardization. :Image - My thoughts on images are what I've expressed over on the Hot Wheels Wiki. I think an image of a First Edition is preferable over any other edition, but barring that, any clear shot that displays the model well will suffice until a First Edition can be uploaded. Opened models are preferable over unopened models, but if the earlier edition is only represented by a good clear shot of a vehicle still in the package, that's what I generally leave in the header. As to the creative shots I sometimes use in the header, I only use the "fancy-smancy" shots in headers and try to use a different image in the table - one that strips everything away and only shows the model itself. I feel that by putting a little extra special effort in the header image, it just goes to show people who happen to find the site for the first time just how special we think the cars and trucks really are. I'm 48, and if anything, I like Matchbox, Hot Wheels and even the inexpensive Maisto models more now than when I got my first Hot Wheels in 1968! I take a lot of pride coming up with a catchy header image because I love the little cars so much. :As far as the changes you suggest for the table headings, I have updated the new casting template to reflect the addition of "/ Type" for the base heading and "/ Variations" for the notes heading. I also added in the default sort at the bottom, which was missing, as well as one starter category. This should make creating pages a little easier. As to adding the "#" before a "1/12" number, I always added because that's the way I saw it being done before me. But, now that you mention it, I think we could do without it. I will try to reflect this change from now on whenever I edit a page. (Also on the other two wikis I contribute to as well.) :Everything else you suggested for the table seems fine except for the thumbnail size of the cars themselves. When I first joined the Hot Wheels Wiki, which I found before the other two, I saw both 75px being used and 100px in some instances. I changed a couple of 75px thumbs to 100px until an Administrator said not to. But, I think 100px is all right here. Anything more than that can sometimes cause a spacing issue with the table being wider than can be fully displayed on a computer screen without having to scroll left and right just to see one whole description. Sometimes, when a model's first release turns out to be something like "hotwheelscollectors.com," it makes the word take up a lot of column width because it doesn't hypenate it down for size. Because of this possibility, it always seemed that nothing more than 100px was a good number to use for all model's thumbnail widths. It's big enough to get a good look at the car, (if it's a good, close photograph), but not too big to really stretch the width of the table. It's really helpful to be able to compare models without having to scroll left and right continually. :I have updated the new casting template to reflect the things we've discussed here. I've also added the coding for the wheel types and image of the models thumbnails for ease of use. I wish I would have thought to do so much earlier! It could have saved me a lot of time over typing this stuff in all those times! :Well, I think this Matchbox Cars Wiki is getting better all the time! Thanks again for taking the time to care about doing a good job! Oh, on another little note - something I always do is that, since my images come out of my digital camera at a 2x3 format, I try to keep my images of single cars that same dimension. It seems to make the tables come out more even and easier to read. But, that's just a little idiosyncracy of mine and doesn't have to be followed religiously. It's just that I'm colorblind and notice things like this more than the average person. Also, if you wouldn't mind always putting a brief summary at the bottom of the page for every edit you do. It sure is helpful to be able to go through the recent changes page and tell at a single glance everything that's been done since I looked last. Thanks! HaarFager 23:34, September 8, 2009 (UTC) Prototype How about a line about the car's prototype? This might be useful both in cars where the prototype isn't immediately obvious (e.g. Double-Decker) and would divert people who place the prototype's builder in the designer line. --Badger16 (talk) 17:59, July 14, 2012 (UTC)